Is Iron Man 2 the first film EVER...

[od0_ital]

^

Last fall, a friend of mine & I went to see The Wizard of Oz durin' that one night only theatrical release to promote the upcomin' blu ray, and, as with most films from that era, the credits were all at the beginnin' of the movie. When it ended, and just said "The End" my friend got mad, because she's gotten used to stayin' in the theater for the end credits!

 

[chardman]

It's kind of a gimmick. As if to say this movie is so fast we don't have time for credits.

Are credits even necessary at the start of a film? Seriously, who cares since they're run at the end of the movie.

That wasn't always the case. For years, movies were required by various Hollywood union agreements to feature virtually all screen credits at the beginning of the film. George Lucas was the first to seriously challenge this, with Star Wars. Because he insisted on saving all the screen credits 'til the end, he was heavily fined by, and ultimately resigned from, the Director's Guild. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_credits

 

[SlyCardie]

I think it's just done for the sake of changing things up, plus it makes the movie feel like a more complete experience. As in, once the credits are over, you're strapped in for the long haul.

 

[Aragorn]

It's kind of a gimmick. As if to say this movie is so fast we don't have time for credits.

Are credits even necessary at the start of a film? Seriously, who cares since they're run at the end of the movie.

That wasn't always the case. For years, movies were required by various Hollywood union agreements to feature virtually all screen credits at the beginning of the film. George Lucas was the first to seriously challenge this, with Star Wars. Because he insisted on saving all the screen credits 'til the end, he was heavily fined by, and ultimately resigned from, the Director's Guild. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_credits

Some movies don't even have the title at the beginning these days.

And if you want to see at what opening credits used to look like, the James Bond movies still use the massive credit list.

Tombstone is a movie that saves the credits for the end, but the TV version puts them at the front, and it looks really unnatural appearing during scenes that weren't supposed to have credits.